Eu foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton expressed the EU’s full support for the ongoing negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians which, she said’ ’should lead to a two-state solution with the State of Israel and independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable State of Palestine living side by side in peace, security and mutual recognition.‘’
She made the statement after meeting on Thursday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Brussels.
She also reaffirmed the EU's continued support for the Palestinian state-building efforts and reiterated the call for intra-Palestinian reconciliation ‘’as an important element for the unity of a future Palestinian state and for reaching a two-state solution.’’
The Islamist Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strrip, and its rival Fatah, Abbas's party that dominates the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, have been at odds since Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Abbas, who toured this week several European countries to lobby support for sanctions against the Israeli settlements, urged European and other foreign companies to stop operating in the settlements and called on the EU to stick with its guidelines issued in July that deny EU funding and support to all entities operating beyond the Green Line. He made the call on Wednesday after meeting with EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy.